Macleaya

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Macleaya is a genus of only two species, native in China and Japan. Both are cultivated as ornamentals in Europe. However, their hybrid is probably more widely grown than either (Turrill 1958, Cullen 1995d, Karlsson 2001, Stace 2010).

The identification of Macleaya in cultivation (and as an escape) is often critical. As a result of hybridization specific limits seem to have become more or less obscure. Belgian records are here referred to as Macleayacordata but most records might represent M. xkewensis Turrill, its hybrid with M. microcarpa (Maxim.) Fedde (Turrill 1958). To our knowledge, the latter has not been recorded so far in the wild in Belgium (and seems rare in cultivation as well). It is a much smaller plant, not exceeding 100 cm (Zhang & Grey-Wilson 2008a).

Both species of Macleaya were initially described as members of the genus Bocconia Plum. ex L. and some authors still consider both as congeneric. The latter, however, is a related but distinct New World genus (Blattner & Kadereit 1999, Mabberley 2008).